Throughout the spring semester the William Peace University Alumni Board will be sponsoring the Duke Energy Honors Leadership Speaker Series Leadership. When the university won the Duke Energy Emerging Leaders grant the Alumni Board decided to host a Leadership Series for not only the Presidential Ambassadors, but also for the students, faculty, and other Alumni members interested in developing their leadership skills. The reason they decided to host this event is due to the fact that a new president will be coming to William Peace University next year and they believe that leadership is now more important than ever; in addition, the Alumni Board wants to model the values of leadership as they bridge the future Alumni’s back to Peace. The series will have four speakers that will come to discuss their own road to becoming successful leaders. These speakers include Trish Healey, Ryan Messer, Debra Ross, and a fourth speaker who has yet to be announced.
Trish Healey, co-founder and principal of Hyde Street Holdings, came to Peace in January to discuss the core qualities it takes to be a leader in today’s industry. Healey discussed her belief system which consisted of five core beliefs which are the following: I am not right, the trickle-down effect, finding where people agree instead of disagreeing, pausing, and doing no harm. During her presentation Healey asked students about reoccurring problems on campus where Tarecka Payne brought up how students are not as involved on campus as they have been in the past years. After this Healey gave Payne advice to go out and start solving this problem head on. Payne states, “After hearing Trish’s advice it made me want to do more so I went to Student Services and decided to make an online group called Commando where atypical leaders will get a chance to put their own input into student activities. Once an event has been approved within the group these leaders will then present their ideas to the Student Government Association on campus.” This group is currently in the works and students should be on the lookout for its debut this spring semester. Julie Ricciardi, Vice President of Engagement reviewed Healey’s talk with positive words stating, “one important aspect of being a successful leader is having people from within the meeting take something away. You would be surprised how many students I have heard stating they need to pause more in decision making or how they have taken her belief of draining the tub in order to get new perspective on troublesome situations.”
In addition Payne mentions that, “A student can broaden his or her own network by not only meeting the speakers but also by meeting the other students, faculty, and Alumni attending.”
“Students can gain so much information from these speakers,” Ricciardi expands by stating, “One of Peace’s values is promoting life-long learning. Even if you know a lot on leadership you can gain insight on how each speaker deals with dilemmas on their road to leadership.”
Ricciardi expresses that, “students should come to the series because it is a free event offered on campus and it is a great opportunity to network. On a small campus students have more opportunities to meet with top executives whereas it may be harder to find on a larger campus or even after college. Also students have chance to build a network of powerful people that may benefit them later on in life; for example, students who came to the Trish Healey’s presentation now have her e-mail and would have a better chance of having her come and present on leadership than someone who has never met her.”
Payne agrees with Riccardi and adds that, “Each speaker will provide their own perspective on their way to the top as Trish Healey taught us to reflect on ourselves.” Students should make sure to be on the lookout for the next speaker Ryan Messer as he will provide his own take on what it is like to work for Johnson and Johnson while also being active in the community of Cincinnati, Ohio and being on the LGBT and Stop AIDS Now Boards. For more information on the Duke Energy Honors Speaker Series, e-mail Julie Ricciardi at julie.ricciardi@peace.edu.
